BIGGBY® COFFEE Franchisee Alex Winkel Found Success During the Pandemic By Giving Back

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, BIGGBY® COFFEE franchisee Alex Winkel saw a drop in customers almost immediately.

With his two BIGGBY® COFFEE locations empty and his employees anxiously looking for something to do, Winkel hatched a plan. On an eerily quiet Wednesday that was normally wall-to-wall with customers turning out for the store’s weekly BOGO (buy one, get one free) promotion, Winkel decided to launch BODO — buy one, donate one — to health care workers instead. And rather than run it on Wednesdays only, he decided it would be every day of the week.

Pandemic response strategy

While most business owners opted against spending more money during the COVID-19 pandemic, the idea aligned well with the 250-plus unit brand’s mission to help its franchisees, employees, customers and communities build a life they love.

“I felt like we had to go in the opposite direction of what might be a natural inclination to tighten up our purse strings,” Winkel said. “If we were going to stay open, we thought we may as well do something to help all the health care workers. So we decided to focus on giving.”

Initially, Winkel paid out of pocket for daily “micro-to-go” coffee drops at local hospitals, ensuring health care workers were well-caffeinated as they struggled to meet the demands of an increasingly frightening pandemic.

But then his customers caught on and started coming in more often to buy coffee and do their part to help out the community. “We have a lot of generous customers,” Winkel said. “I think it gave them something to do and feel good about during a difficult time. It was also very helpful for our employees.”

Brand culture and values

That outlook is something that sets BIGGBY® COFFEE apart from other brands.

In the business world, where just about every aspect of an operation can be measured and optimized through metrics and data analysis, most brands have removed any measure of emotional or personal care from their operations. With a focus on helping franchisees, employees and customers build better, happier, more joyful lives, BIGGBY® COFFEE is different.

The coffee brand’s entire franchise operation has been fine-tuned to incorporate love and care at every level. Franchisees are given everything they need not only to become successful business owners, but also to have the freedom and flexibility to build the lives they love.

That autonomy, said Winkel, is a huge part of what allowed him to come up with his innovative promotion in the first place.

“I was lucky to have the freedom to run a discount like that,” Winkel said. “BIGGBY® COFFEE gives me structure when I need it, but also the freedom for creativity and positivity, which is so important.”

It’s a culture that has helped Winkel’s bottom line. “Business is going great now,” he said. “Not only have we grown past where we were before the pandemic, but our customers really appreciate what we’ve done for the community. We’ve done it together.”

Community outreach efforts

The BODO promotion is still going strong at Winkel’s BIGGBY® COFFEE locations, which recently teamed up with Saginaw Spirit, a local semi-pro hockey team, to donate free unlimited 16-ounce cups of coffee for UPS, USPS and FedEx workers every day of the week.

“It’s just another way to help the community out,” Winkel said. “Health care workers were the obvious first choice, but delivery drivers deserve our help too.”

That “commitment to genuine care” guides every facet of BIGGBY® COFFEE’s customer- and franchisee-facing operations, said BIGGBY® COFFEE co-founder and co-CEO Mike McFall. “Franchisees like Alex are not only emblematic of our brand, they are what drives our success. We are proud of Alex’s commitment to the community he serves.”

For Winkel, the pandemic has been a lesson in understanding the true value of BIGGBY® COFFEE’s philosophy. “When things got tough, we stayed focused on giving,” he said. “It turned out that the best way to save our business was by using our product to help other people and enlisting our customers to pitch in. The way we got out of this is by thinking about other people.”